Rev. Harriette cross
Englewood UMC
Rust Memorial UMc
September 18, 2011
What’s Fair
Exodus 16:2-15
Matthew 20:1-16
14th Sunday after Pentecost
Year A
Wandering in the wilderness
We have all been there at some point in our lives. We have been at a time in our lives when we are just wandering in the wilderness – looking for where we will go next. We might be just finishing school looking for a career, just out of a relationship looking for what comes next, looking for a lifestyle change. We may be looking for a new job. There are any number of things that might put us in that place of wandering. The point is, some of us at some point find a sense of direction of where we are supposed to go, and some of us just keep on wandering.
Turn to you neighbor and say – I don’t plan on being in this place for too long.
Some of us get home and some of us keep wandering
There is a saying that the king of England said a prayer to God on day – he prayed that God would give him a light so that he could see in the unknown. The priest replied, instead of praying for light, just pray for God – that is all that you need.
That is the difference between those who make it to the promised land, and those who don’t. Some are still looking for the light, and some discover that God knows the way – not them.
We have to go in the wilderness to find God
Often times it is those wilderness experiences that teach us that we need God. It is those wilderness experiences that teach us of the ways of God. It is those wilderness experiences that put us face to face with a God. A God that had been with us all along, but for some reason we had not been paying attention to.
It is in the wilderness that we start to exchange our fear for courage, and we have to strength to move on.
Even when we get to the promisedland we see that in reality, all of our lives are lived somewhere in between hardship and promise. No Matter how far we make it, there is something that we have to struggle with.
We like to complain
And when we have to struggle we get frustrated, and when we get frustrated what do we do? We start to complain. Something is wrong, and somebody is to blame for all of our struggles.
As our Old Testament reading today indicates, complaining seems to be an essential element of the human condition. In 1770 Edmund Burke published a little treatise called Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents. His perception sounds quite contemporary as well as reflective on ancient Israel: "To complain of the age we live in, to murmur at the present possessors of power, to lament the past, to conceive extravagant hopes of the future, are the common dispositions of the greatest part of humankind."
News reports say that the approval rate for president obama is at an all time low. Many are saying that life is worse for them now then it was when he got in office. He may have done a lot for the country – but we are all still frustrated.
God knows the frustration of his people very well. The whole subject of the first books of the bible are God’s people complaining, and God hearing and responding to their frustration.
The isrealites cried because of the hardship of slavery – and the bible says that God heard the cries of his people. They needed a leader to lead them out of Egypt – and God called Moses. In our text today – the isrealites have been freed, they are on their own, they have been given a vision of a land that God promises them – and yet what is going on? They are feeling the tension between hardship and promise. They are hungry, they are frustrated, and they are complaining. God bought us here out of the middle of nowhere – to die. Once again God hears their cries. And they are fed with manna an quail. And they are able to move on with their task of finding a homeland.
The history of God and his people
God hearing the call of his beloved people – and answering the call – that is the theme of the bible. Biblical scholars say that is the theme of the Hebrew story. Some say that God never really recovered from feeling hurt that his people did not fully trust him to supply all of their needs. That is why their hardship never really ended.
Even more interesting for me – is that the while in isreal – I learned that there has never been any archeological proof that this story happened in reality at all. Jews today believe that it was just an old folk tale. They have looked for years for relics of the day , and have not found them. No buildings, no bones, no artifacts. They have dug all over the place where the isrealites would have been in the wilderness and all they can really find are the bones of egytpians settlers in the land. No proof that the isrealites actually wandered in the wilderness. Do we really need proof of the story to get the point of the story. At some point in our lives, we will be wandering around in the wilderness, at some point in or lives God comes to us and supplies or needs. And either we are going to trust God – or we are going to continue to complain about what we don’t have, and what we cant do.
Turn to your neighbor again and say – I don’t plan on staying in this place for too long.
A lesson, a test, a gift
The manna that provided for the isrealites to eat when they were hungry was a test, a lesson and a gift all in one. God created the hunger and the need in them, just as God created the satisfaction. God wanted to test his people to see how they would respond to being in need, God wanted to teach them then He could supply all they needed, and God wanted to satisfy that hunger so that they could know redemption. And who was responsible. The hardships we go through are a test, a lesson, and a gift of faith for those who believe.
We only read part of the story of the people and God’s gift of manna. God told the people to only take what they needed for the day – the people’s response to hoard and save it. God said not to forget the Sabbath in order to eat – and they went out on the Sabbath to get more manna.
And we wonder why we are always asking, and god always supplies and we have to ask again. We don’t hold onto the gift of trust for too long.
Frustration in the new testament
The gospel lesson is a story of frustration, of working in the midst of hardship, of thinking you are getting ahead, and realizing that you are getting no where – without God.
In the parable of the first and the last – we have heard this story before. A man of means hires some day workers and promises to pay them for they work. Those who work twice as hard get the same thing as those who don’t. it is a story that peaks our frustration, and sense of injustice as you will. One person upon hearing some of Jesus’ parables – just outright says sometimes Jesus is just unfair in what he says.
The parable that Jesus gives, there is no names, no context, no connection to the worker or his money. Listen to this story and see if your perspective changes….
The story with a name
There’s a play by Timothy Thompson based on this parable in which he depicts two brothers vying for work. John is strong and capable; Philip is just as willing but has lost a hand in an accident. When the landowner comes, John is taken in the first wave of workers, and as he labors in the field he looks up the lane for some sign of Philip. Other workers are brought to the field, but Philip is not among them. John is grateful to have the work, but feels empty knowing that Philip is just as needful as he. Finally, the last group of workers arrive, and Philip is among them. John is relieved to know that Philip will get to work at least one hour. But, as the drama unfolds, and those who came last get paid a full days’ wages, John rejoices, knowing that Philip – his brother – will have the money necessary to feed his family. When it comes his turn to stand before the landowner and receive his pay, instead of complaining as the others, John throws out his hand and says with tears in his eyes, “Thank you, my lord, for what you’ve done for us today!”
God’s economy
What fair and right in the worlds economy, is not what is right and fair in God’s economy. In the worlds economy you too are a nameless, faceless situation with no connection, and no context. And yet in God’s economy you are loved, needed, cared for and important. God created your circumstance, God put you in it- and God will take you out of it – all so that you can realize that God really does care about you. The situation you are in is a test, a lesson and a gift – the gift of God’s grace.
And believe it or not, sometimes Jesus is just wrong. Wrong in the worlds eyes – to remind us that we are in the world but not of the world. We are in the situation – but God has plans for us to move somewhere else. Look at your neighbor and say – I don’t plan to stay in this place for too long….
The prayer of the filled cup
Recently I learned of a special prayer that one woman does every day. When she wakes up in the morning who gets a bowl- and as she pours water in to she starts to pray for all of the things and all of the people in her life. As the bowl fills up she still pour the water. And she is reminded of God’s grace in her life. She remembers all of the needs that God supplies, all that she is grateful for. All that she has for her say. She realizes that her life is just as full as that bowl. And then she leaves the bowl on her kitchen sink for the rest of her day – to remind her of the fullness of God, and that her soul is full.
Let us pray…..
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